Nutcracker Night

Thanksgiving week was busy with rehearsals - some days the girls were there for 8 hours! - and two performances of the Nutcracker Suite.  It was tiring but a lot of fun and another great accomplishment for Grace and her friends.

Cast dinner with Annie and Annalise

Between rehearsals we squeezed in a little decorating silliness!

Buddy missed Grace when she was at dance that week.

I didn't get any photos during the show this year.  Annalise's mom took this one of some of the Pollichinelle's.  Grace is on the left.

It is amazing how much energy the dancers had after the show.  It must be like a runner's "high"! They were happy to greet their guests and take photos together.

With Mother Ginger

Isabella, Maggie, Grace, and Annalise

With Clara (Caroline)

Mom's favorite - Marzipans!

Dance Mom

This is the second year that Grace will be in The Nutcracker Suite with the Hudson Conservatory of Ballet.  She has the same role as last year - a Polichinelle - which was fine with her.  The girls have been rehearsing since September.  This week things get "real" (as Grace would say) as they take their hard work to the performance venue for technical and dress rehearsals on the stage.  I volunteered as a "dance mom" to chaperone the girls backstage, make sure they get into their costumes, put in hairpieces, and escort them to the snack table and restroom.  Fun times.  Actually, it was an exhausting (and stressful!) 5 hours and I didn't even dance!

These are all iPhone snapshots in really bad lighting with moving children. Now, doesn't that make you want to keep reading?

Grace and Annalise have become good friends this year. 

A new scene has been added to the first act before the Hudson Youth Choir sings. 

Backstage, the girls took photos, played cards, and listened to music
 on their devices to keep busy until it was their turn to dance.

At the end of the evening, after being there for almost 5 hours, Eric talked to the girls about being ready and focused when it is their turn.

4th grade photo

More Halloween fun

We are grateful for this mild fall in Ohio.  It is November 6th and we are still able to be outside without coats and there has been no sign of the S-word!  The Indians made it to the World Series, and we were proud of them even though they didn't win.  We like the Chicago Cubs, too, so if it couldn't be the Indians, we were glad it was the Cubs.

This year, "Charlie" joined us in the front yard.

Grace went trick-or-treating with her friend Jacob.  They were both dressed as characters from Harry Potter this year.

That night we met Jacob's friend, Jamir, and Grace re-kindled a friendship with Gabriella and her younger sister, Marcella.  Their parents are from Poland and the girls speak both English and Polish. That is pretty cool, if you ask me.

Hudson Conservatory of Ballet allowed the dancers to dress up for class on October 31.  It is difficult to dance in some costumes, so the Level 1 conservatory girls decided to wear emoji shirts.  They looked really cute!